Competitive Mobility Project

England

AFC Wimbledon

2025/26: 19th in League One

How high can AFC Wimbledon realistically go?

Based on finishing 19th in League One in 2025/26

About 1 in 7

Of the 137 times a club finished in the bottom half of League One between 2004/05 and 2020/21, 21 went up within five seasons.

21 of 137 (15%); likely range 7%–26%, 49 different clubs.

Reached the top flight within ten seasonsabout 1 in 16
6 of 96; range 0%–14%

AFC Wimbledon itself: none of the last 10 seasons in the Premier League.

How do we know?

We took every season since 2004/05 in which a club finished in the same part of the same league, and followed each club forward. The figure is the share that reached each goal. Ten-year goals use finishes from 2004/05 to 2015/16, five-year goals from 2004/05 to 2020/21, so every case has had the full time to play out; results run to the end of 2025/26.

It describes what happened to clubs in this position, not a forecast for one club. A club with much more money or history than is usual for its position has better chances than the figure suggests, which is why the club's own record is shown underneath.

The likely range is a 95% interval worked out by resampling clubs rather than seasons, because the same club often appears several times. It is wide where only a few clubs have been in a position, and two leagues whose ranges overlap may not really differ. Reserve teams such as Barcelona B or Real Madrid Castilla are left out of these counts, because they cannot be promoted into their first team's division.

Counts: went up within five seasons: 21 of 137; reached the top flight within ten seasons: 6 of 96.

The story so far

AFC Wimbledon has played 15 seasons in the divisions covered here since 2011/12: 7 in League One and 8 in League Two. It has been in League One since 2025/26 (1 season), after 3 seasons in League Two. Its best finish was 15th in League One, in 2016/17. Its biggest climb took five seasons: from 20th in League Two in 2012/13 to 18th in League One in 2017/18. It has been promoted 3 times and relegated once.

Final position each seasonRinged dots are titles
2025/262021/222017/182013/142009/102005/062001/021997/981993/941stPremier LeagueChampionshipLeague OneLeague Two
How to read this chart

Every club in the divisions covered is placed on one ladder each season: the champions are 1st, and the top club of the second division comes straight after the bottom club of the first. Shaded bands are the divisions. Hover over or tap a dot for the season.

15seasons since 1992/93
0seasons in the Premier League
0league titles
0top-four finishes
3promotions
1relegations

Against the money

Not enough seasons with published wage figures in the top two divisions (0).

Clubs with a similar path

Clubs whose finishing positions over the last 15 seasons were closest to AFC Wimbledon's, with recent seasons counting more.

In England

Northampton TownEngland · 24th in League One, 2025/26Bristol RoversEngland · 14th in League Two, 2025/26Accrington StanleyEngland · 16th in League Two, 2025/26GillinghamEngland · 17th in League Two, 2025/26

Compare AFC Wimbledon with another club

Sources